Maktaba Room: Annotations on Art, Design, and Diasporic Knowledge

The term ‘Maktaba’ originates from Arabic and is commonly used across North and East Africa to describe a ‘library’ or ‘bookstore.’ In a broader sense, it refers to a space where knowledge is collected, preserved, or made accessible.

In August 2025, Maktaba Room* Düsseldorf, opened for a month at ThisThat Gallery. The gallery, led by curator Li/Yang (formerly Studio of Rita McBride), operates between China and Düsseldorf, forming an important intercultural connection within the city’s artistic landscape.

Maktaba Room is initiated by Cate Lartey (Ghanaian artist and curator) and Donja Nasseri (artist with Egyptian and Afghan roots), who aim to create a space that strengthens cross-community togetherness, encourages exchange and resource sharing, and offers a way to see Düsseldorf differently through books and collective experience.

At the heart of Maktaba Room lies the vision to create a reading room where visitors are invited to read, reflect, write, create and dream entirely at their own pace. The curated book collection invites exploration across literature, art, design and printed matter, with a focus on works by African, Asian, and Afro- and Asian-diasporic authors. These are books that accompany and inspire the initiators in their work as artists, curators and cultural practitioners - books as tools that open doors to new worlds of imagination, aesthetics and everyday practices, shaped by thinkers, artists and visionaries from whom they seek to learn.

The reading room is further enriched by contributions from invited guests who share their relationships with books, printed matter and literature as knowledge rooted in lived experience and interests.

‘Poetry Is the Only Way Out of Here’ by Nouria Behloul (2021)

Sometimes, a few words are enough to make the full weight of your inner and outer conflict feel acknowledged. “The only way out of here” are the opening words of Nouria Behloul’s book, published by Bom dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite Books. Turning the book around, you find the words “poetry is. ” And yes—it is. This beautifully crafted book gives poetic shape to feelings and to the world as it stands now—a world one might wish to escape. How to get out of here? The way out is near, and it begins with words. Visually, the book is vivid and striking with an appealing yet contradictory palette that carries a political charge. Each text is set in a unique layout, forming drawings made of words. The writings, composed between 2011 and 2021, move through everyday moods flecked with bursts of absurdity and truth.

‘Dream in the Rhythm: Visions of Sound and Spirit in the MoMA Collection’ by Grace Wales Bonner (2023)

Grace Wales Bonner, known for her fashion brand and diverse creative works, shows once again that she is far more than a designer. A true cultural polymath, she uses style and art to explore identity, spirituality, and self-expression. In this publication, Wales Bonner takes the reader on a rich visual and sensory journey. Through her research-based practice and refined aesthetics, she weaves together photography, poetry, sound, and performance in an intimate yet expansive way. The book presents sequences of works by artists such as Terry Adkins, Roy DeCarava, David Hammons, Arthur Jafa, Sory Sanlé, and Ming Smith, alongside poems and texts by Nikki Giovanni, Ishmael Reed, Jean Toomer, Quincy Troupe or Lynette Yiadom Boakye. As Wales Bonner explains in a conversation with Jeni Fulton, “The basis of what I do is research. I see it as an artistic and spiritual practice, something natural and continuous, like music. I’m trying to translate something sonic into something visual.”

‘Design by Accident: For a New History of Design’ by Alexandra Midal (2019)

This publication is the English translation of Midal’s 2012 doctoral thesis which she defended at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. In this book, she takes a critical look at traditional design history and theory and asks us to rethink how the story of design has been told. She believes that design history should be written “on its own terms, ” not only as a part of architecture or art history. The title expresses the main idea of the book: design did not start with a clear plan but rather “by accident.” It grew out of architectural work from small objects and interior spaces and later became its own independent field with unique ideas and methods. Midal also connects this idea of “accidental design” to Reyner Banham’s concept of “design by choice.” She shows how design moved from being an unplanned result of architecture to becoming a deliberate and thoughtful practice.

‘Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica’ edited by Antawan I. Byrd, Adom Getachew et.al (2024)

This publication accompanies an exhibition of the same name, held at the Art Institute of Chicago from December 15, 2024, to March 30, 2025. The book features nearly three hundred illustrations arranged in chronological order, covering the period from 1900 to 2024. Together, they provide an overview of artworks and cultural objects that, in the editors’ view, help define and advance Pan-Africanist ideas. Focusing on the cultural expressions of Pan-Africanism, the volume presents a rich variety of visual, sonic, and creative forms that have emerged throughout its history. It includes works by artists such as BlackMass Publishing, Faith Ringgold, Magdalene Anyango Odundo, Santu Mofokeng, Simone Leigh, and John Stollmeyer. The book is filled with illustrations, photographs, artworks, and Candomblé rituals, representing many different styles and voices. It also includes essays by more than a dozen scholars, artists, and cultural practitioners who explore a wide range of themes and geographic contexts. Among the contributors are KJ Abudu, Antawan I. Byrd, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Ntone Edjabe, and Mpho Matsipa.